A History of Christian Conversion

Product Description
Conversion has played a central role in the history of Christianity. In this first in-depth and wide-ranging narrative history, David Kling examines the dynamic of turning to the Christian faith by individuals, families, and people groups. Global in reach, the narrative progresses from early
Christian beginnings in the Roman world to Christianity's expansion into Europe, the Americas, China, India, and Africa. Conversion is often associated with a particular strand of modern Christianity (evangelical) and a particular type of experience (sudden, overwhelming). However, when examined
over two millennia, it emerges as a phenomenon far more complex than any one-dimensional profile would suggest. No single, unitary paradigm defines conversion and no easily explicable process accounts for why people convert to Christianity. Rather, a multiplicity of factors-historical, personal,
social, geographical, theological, psychological, and cultural-shape the converting process.\nA History of Christian Conversion not only narrates the conversions of select individuals and peoples, it also engages current theories and models to explain conversion, and examines recurring themes in the conversion process: divine presence, gender and the body, agency and motivation, testimony
and memory, group- and self-identity, "authentic" and "nominal" conversion, and modes of communication. Accessible to scholars, students, and those with a general interest in conversion, Kling's book is the most satisfying and comprehensive account of conversion in Christian history to date; this
major work will become a standard must-read in conversion studies.\nReview
"impressive in its chronological and geographical scope and in the effort it clearly entailed,
A History of Christian Conversion...is comprehensive and engagingly written..." -- M.A. Singer, Minot State University,
CHOICE\n"This book would be useful in a variety of settings DS schools, churches, mission fields, and Christian homes. It can even be used as a devotional book. By reading one portion each day, the reader can reflect and learn from history and the many life stories." -- Perlita Tan,
Evangelical Missions\nQuarterly\nAbout the Author \nDavid W. Kling is the author of
A Field of Divine Wonders: The New Divinity and Village Revivals in Northwestern Connecticut, 1792-1822;
The Bible in History: How the Texts Have Shaped the Times; co-editor (with Douglas A. Sweeney) of
Jonathan Edwards at Home and Abroad: Historical Memories,\nCultural Movements, Global Horizons; and an area editor (American Christianity) for the
Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. He is Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Miami.